Saturday, 10 August 2013

Apple Wins another Patent-Infringement Case Against Samsung

Applereportedly wonits
patent-infringement case against Samsung in a decision that limits the U.S.
import of certain products.

According
to Bloomberg, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) in Washington
today handed out an almost-final verdict in Cupertino's favor; the ban is still
subject to review by President Barack Obama, who can overturn it on public
policy grounds.

A
federal jury last year found two dozen Samsung devices infringed on patents already
held by Apple, but aside from a hefty fine for Samsung, no other repercussions
had been doled out. In fact, Judge Lucy Kohin December concludedthat damages were enough for Apple, and
a full ban of the products in question was not necessary.

But
apparently $1.05 billion wasn't quite enough for the tech giant, and the
company found itselfback in court today, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit in Washington, for an injunction against Samsung.

The
appeals court is not expected to rule on the case for several months, despite
today's USITC announcement.

"Apple
spent five years and $5 billion to develop a product and it was a revolutionary
product," Apple lawyer William Lee told Bloomberg. "Samsung said, 'We
can copy it easily.' They spent three months to bring the product to
market."

But
the South Korean company doesn't feel that it should take all the blame. A
company lawyer told the court today that Apple needed to show "the
difference between Samsung's infringement and Samsung's legitimate
competition," Bloomberg reported.

The
original ruling was based on a number of Apple design and utility patents with
a variety of devices, including the Samsung Epic 4G, Capitivate, Galaxy S II,
Indulge, Vibrant, and more.This
spring, a court ruling dropped more than $450 million in damages from the
original $1.05 billion Apple won in August; the March 1 decision was based on
the court's belief that some sales of the devices in question occurred before
April 15, 2011 — the dateApple sued Samsung.

Cupertinoquickly requestedthat the judge reinstate more than $85
million in damages — $40,494,356 for the Galaxy S II and $44,792,974 for the
Infuse 4G.

What
seems like a never-ending dispute between the two phone makers continued in
May, when Apple revealed that itwanted to add the Galaxy
S 4to the list of 22
infringing Samsung devices. Cupertino kindly offered to drop one of the gadgets
already on the list and swap in Samsung's newest flagship Android smartphone.